Birds and Planes
by side-fish
Summary: We love birds and we love planes, but there is a reason why they never go together.
1. Chapter 1

Birds and Planes

A short fanfic dedicated to all the Birds of Rio and the Pilots that fly there…

Chapter 1

7:00 am

Antonio Carlos International Airport, Rio de Janeiro. The sun is slowly rising on the east on the second busiest airport in the country in terms of international traffic. The airport serves as a gateway to Rio de Janeiro, known famously for its tourist attractions and festivals. About twelve million passengers used this airport in 2010 alone, equivalent to 123,000 aircraft operations.

28 passenger airlines and 6 cargo airlines use this airport, one of them, British Cargo Flight 275.

"Lovely day for a fly, eh." Captain Moody asked.

"I couldn't ask for anything more." First Officer Harding replied.

"Alright. Start-up checklist procedures."

Flight 275 has daily flights from Heathrow in London to Antonio Carlos International Airport in Rio. The routine 14-hour flight to London usually occurs in the morning. The flight will be handled by Captain Moody and First Officer Harding. Captain Moody has been working for a decade for British Cargo with 10000 hours flying experience. His first officer is more novice. Only 1000 hours. Despite this, the crew have flown with each other at least a dozen times. The reason for this is that British Cargo has a not so significant presence in the country. The cargo airline had been expanding to many destinations, but it was halted during the financial crisis in 2008. This resulted in cost cutting measures; one of them was to reduce the number of crew operating the route.

"Checklist complete."

"Rio Tower, Big Charlie 275, ready for taxi."

"Big Charlie 275. Roger. Taxi to runway 33."

Captain Moody had a puzzled look in his face. "Tower, confirm that you said Runway 33."

"That's right. Is there a problem Big Charlie 275?"

"Uhm… yeah. We initially planned for departure from Runway 10."

"Uh, yeah. The runway is undergoing maintenance. All flights using the runway are being diverted to the other runway. We're really sorry for the trouble."

"Roger that tower. Thanks."

The two pilots looked at each other. "Looks like I spoke too soon." Captain Moody replied.

Runway 10 was supposed to be there predetermined runway. It has a direct path that would take them to London. Runway 33 would require a right turn in mid-flight before getting on course, an increase in workload for the pilots. All the reason why there was a fuzz in the cockpit. Apparently, Runway 10 was closed due to an issue with the ILS. The ILS, also known as Instrument Landing System, is a guidance system that uses radiowaves to automatically guide the aircraft into a glide slope. In this case, the localizer of the ILS was in repair. The localizer guides the aircraft so that it stays in the centreline of the glide slope all the way until the runway.

"Strobe lights."

"On."

"Taxi checklist complete." Moody finished.

"At least that's over." Harding replied. Before them was a long line of aircrafts just waiting to take-off. They were about the 7th on queue. "You wanna go over the checklist again?"

"God damn it, Harding. We've done it like three times already."

With one of the two runways out, the airport struggles to get planes in and out of their airspace. Delays are starting to mount up. Passenger planes are being prioritized. As a result, British Cargo 275 gets delayed by thirty more minutes.

Finally, British Cargo 275 is next for take-off.

"Big Charlie 275. Traffic is clear. Continue to Runway 33."

"Continuing, Big Charlie 275." Moody replied. He looked to his first officer, who was now asleep on his chair.

"Wake-up Harding."

"Wuh… How long was I out?"

The aircraft is Boeing 757-200F, popular with medium-scale and regional cargo carriers. It has two General Electric power plants (engines) capable of a maximum operating range of around 6000 km, well short of the trip, which is why there is a quick stopover in the Canary Islands.

"Tower, this is Big Charlie275. Request ATC Clearance for take-off runway 33."

"Copy that Big Charlie 275. You have the runway."

Moody and Harding reach for the thrust levers. Together, they throttle up the plane, accelerating from 0 to 80 in a few seconds.

"Vee one."

"Rotate."

Finally, at around 8:30 a.m., the plane was now in sustained flight.

"Vee two."

"Positive rate. Gear up."

The path would take them to an initial flight level of 12000 ft. before continuing to an altitude of 32000 ft. The pitch of the plane was rather shallow, with an angle of 10 degrees. Initially, there were reports at the airport tower information system that there was some moderate headwinds on take-off. There are four forces that affect flight; thrust, lift, weight and drag. If the pilots increase their rate of climb, they would lose the lift necessary to achieve flight. A steep angle would make an aircraft more susceptible to stalling. The pilots counter this by lowering the pitch. They are in no need to hurry after all. Little did they know that this was just the beginning of their ordeal. Little did they know that the series of events that led them to this path would result to grave consequences.

"Did you hear something Harding?"

"No, it's just you."

"Right." Moody looked out of the window, seeing the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. "Magical city. Nothing quite like it."

"You said it." At 1500 ft., they traversed about 20 km. They were a little too close for comfort as the ground elevation was continuing to rise with the rising terrain. Harding activates the autothrottle and sets the NAV switch to GPS. This switch allows the plane to follow a predetermined flight path by following waypoints on the GPS. And after gaining some speed, it was time for the plane to increase its rate of climb.

"And that's that."

"Yeah. Now, we can relax a little." Moody replied, easing a bit after finishing the last of the checklist. There was now just aircraft monitoring.

They were now 2500 ft. Roughly 40 km in the journey. Suddenly, all hell breaks loose.

BANG! BANG!

"What was that!" Moody asked.

"I don't know."

The pilots look at their glass instruments. What they see was disturbing. "Captain, surge. Engine 1 and 2."

The banging sound continued in a synchronized manner. There were two bangs for every second, but the bangs sound close together before going to another interval and it continued about 60 times. The pilots decided to level at their altitude. Then, their worst fears are realized. The engine readings at the instruments were going down. This only meant one thing.

"Both engines flame out." Harding replied.

"What!"

"Captain, we've lost both engines."

"Hang on. I'll contact ATC. Start the engine shutdown procedure." At the same time, Harding disengages the autopilot and turns on the APU. The APU or Auxiliary Power Unit is a small propeller device that powers basic instruments in the cockpit such as the altimeter, attitude indicator and speedometer.

"Mayday Mayday Mayday, this is Big Charlie 275, we've lost both engines and would like to divert to the nearest airport."

"Copy that, Big Charlie 275. The nearest airport is Antonio Carlos International."

"Thanks tower, Big Charlie 275." Captain Moody was now in control of the plane. He slowly maneuvers the plane back to the airport, but the move itself has a small cost. Turning decreases lift and increases drag. Rotating a plane takes a lot of energy. A certain bank angle will lead to loss of speed, which may also lead to an increase of rate of descent. They were losing altitude fast. Moody now was not sure if they could make.

"Harding, I don't think we'll make it."

"I don't think we'll make it either. We have to find a nearer airport."

"Tower. This Big Charlie 275. I don't think we can make the journey. Is there another nearby airport?"

"Big Charlie 275. Antonio Carlos is the closest airport within your vicinity. Nothing else."

"Tower, I don't think we'll make it. Maybe there's an area we could land on."

"Big Charlie 275. Hold on a while."

"Roger. I don't think we have that long though."

"Alright Big Charlie 275. I just talked to my colleagues about your predicament. It would seem that there is a closer airfield than Antonio Carlos."

"Great, can we get a heading?"

"Negative. The air field is a private property and it's not in our database. We have no jurisdiction over them. You need to find it. Hopefully, it won't be so hard to spot. Good luck."

"Captain, did tower just tell us to go f- ourselves?"

"Yeah. Just keep an eye for an airfield Harding."

"I'll get the landing gear ready."

After a few very short minutes, they had no luck finding the airport. They scanned their windows hoping to get a visual on the airfield. It was hard to spot though. Then suddenly, Harding yelled at what seemed to be hope. "Sir, I see it." He said, pointing toward a thin unconcretized strip. With the airfield visible, it was now up to Moody to align to the runway and land. It was a short strip. Hopefully, it will be long enough for the 757.

"Here we go."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Ten minutes earlier…

"What do I do? What do I do?"

So soon was Rafael reluctantly on his way back to the sanctuary. He did not know how to break the news. He landed on a tree branch.

"How am I going to live with myself after this?"

"Rafael!"

"Huh? Who? What? Blu!"

"Yep. It's me. Lovely day for a fly, it seems." Blu said with high spirits.

"Uh… yeah. Uh… Blu, there's something…"

"I don't think anything can break this lovely day."

"Well, if you say so Blu? Now I'll be on my way now." Rafael was about to fly off.

"Rafael? Where's Jewel?"

Rafael cringed at that last word. Jewel. Do I have to tell her now, he thought. He'll be heartbroken. If I tell him, he'll never forgive me.

"Rafael?"

"What?"

"I asked you a question, Rafael." Blu said nicely.

Rafael frowned, something that caught Blu in a slight worry, but it was going to be an understatement. "Rafael? Where's Jewel? Is there something wrong?"

"Uh-Blu… Uhm…" He could not say it, but the secret was going to be out sooner than later. "Blu… Je…wel… Jewel's gone."

"Gone? You mean gone away?" His heart was pounding now.

"No Blu… She's gone… forever."

Blu could not believe it. It had been such a beautiful day. Had he been deceived? "No. No. Stop joking Rafael. Rafael, I trusted you." Perhaps it was not a good day to fly.

It did not take long for Blu to be on his way to Linda. He raced there knowing perhaps that Linda will know what to do. He was in shock. He still could not believe it. Jewel could not be gone forever. He just saw her a while ago. She kissed her chicks. Blu was worried at first, but she told him everything was going to be alright. She left with Rafael, but she never returned. He could not just tell his children she was gone. What were Jewel and Rafael doing there anyway? Jewel is strong. He knew that whatever happened to her, she would get out of it okay. He just needed to hurry. Blu quickly flew over a wooden guard house where Jewel and Tulio were.

"Squawk-squawk."

"It's Blu." Linda told Tulio. Another look at Blu and Linda knew something was off. "Blu, is there something wrong."

A few minutes, they were now on the move on a jeep. Linda was on the wheel while Tulio was on the side. Blu was accompanied by Pedro and Nico. "Blu, where's Rafael?"

Blu frowned. "He won't be coming with us."

"Oh." Pedro and Nico were silent.

"I hope we find Jewel soon." Linda said.

"Not to worry, Linda. I attached a GPS device on Jewel's leg and with this tracker, we'll be able to track her known location in real-time."

"What does it say?"

"According here, she seems to be mobile."

That's a relief, Blu thought.

"Hmm…. It appears that she is headed to the old airfield where those poachers took her and Blu before."

"That's not far from here." With that, she accelerated to get to the airfield as soon as possible. They sped there reaching the gates of the airfield in hardly two minutes. They all exit the vehicle and were now on the strip.

"According to this tracker, Jewel should be here any minute now."

* * *

><p>"Landing gear."<p>

"Down."

"Flaps."

"Set to full."

"Spoilers.

"Armed."

"Landing checklist complete. We should be landing any minute now."

"Sir, 400 feet."

* * *

><p>"I don't see anything, do you?" Linda asked.<p>

"No." Tulio replied.

* * *

><p>"200 feet."<p>

* * *

><p>"She's very close now. She's coming on the opposite end of this strip."<p>

They look at the opposite end. They did not see Jewel, but something else.

"Is that a…"

"British Cargo?"

"Oh my… Run away!"

* * *

><p><em>50<em>… _40_… _30_… _20_…

_Minimums_…

_Retard_…

_10_…

"I have ground contact."

"Spoilers." Harding pulled the lever that extended the spoilers. Moody reached for reverse thrust, not that it would work though. The plane was slowing down now and it seemed as if they had a chance.

"80 knots."

* * *

><p>Linda, Tulio, Blu and the gang were now running or flying for their lives. As far as they know, a jet aircraft was chasing them on the runway. After a few seconds though, they seem to have out-chased the plane and they somewhat lower the pace to relax a bit. After the ordeal, the group returned to the just landed aircraft. It did not take long before the crew got out of the plane. "First responders?" Harding asked.<p>

"No. We're looking for a bird." Linda replied.

"Congratulations, you've found it." Moody replied sarcastically, showing his hands to their 757 aircraft.

"Okay…" Linda replied confusingly. She approached Tulio. "Tulio. What does your GPS say? Where's Jewel?"

Tulio was confused for a moment. The tracker was not making sense. "According to my tracker, she's… right…" He looked at what was in front of him. It was the plane. "…right in front… of us." His fears were growing now. "Sir, what brings your plane here in such a remote place?" Tulio asked.

"We crashed here. Our plane was climbing when we hit something at 2500 ft. We lost both engines and glided all the way here." Moody answered.

"Quite lucky actually. Air Traffic Control didn't have much information on this strip, so we actually didn't know where this place was. Good thing we saw it last minute. Had we landed elsewhere, I don't think we would have made it." Harding added.

"Oh no. Jewel!" Blu yelled as he approached on of the left engine. He noticed the fan blades were severely damaged. A part of the blades were missing and there was a hole inside. Blu went in without hesitation.

"Blu don't go in there! It's not safe!" Jewel yelled.

He did not listen. He needed to see Jewel. He searched his way inside the wrecked engine, but he found her. Miraculously, she was still in one piece, but she had a large wound on her forehead bleeding profusely. He took her out of the engine with his beak. He brought her out in view of everyone: Linda, Tulio, Pedro, Nico and the two pilots.

"Unbelievable." Moody just thought. "You know this bird?"

"Yes. She's Jewel, our blue macaw and she's endangered." Tulio replied before leaving the two airmen to tend to Jewel's wounds.

"Small world, eh Captain?" Harding asked.

"Small world indeed."

Jewel slightly opened her eyes. "Blu?"

"Jewel's awake." Blu said. "Jewel, you're going to be alright."

"Yeah, hang in there Jewel." Nico replied as well.

Tulio approached the wounded bird. "Hang on, Jewel. This may sting a bit." After that, Jewel fell unconscious.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Last chapter guys. It's been a good run =).

Chapter 3

Jewel slowly regained consciousness seeing nothing but blurry objects at first, but that slight shade of blue at her right suggests that it was Blu. Below her sight, was a shade of a yellow balls and beside it was something reddish. It was Nico and Pedro. Her vision was becoming clearer now. She was at the reserve infirmary.

"Hey there sleepy head." Blu said in a soft voice.

"Blu? Is that you? What happened?"

"You got hit by an airplane, girl." Nico replied.

"Blu's right, you really are as tough as they come." Pedro added.

"Hang on. Let me just fix your bandage." He tightened the bandages that wrapped around her head. There was a large red dot that showed on Jewel's left forehead, though the blood had dried up already. "Does it hurt?" Blu asked while he was finishing up on her wounds.

"Not at all."

After finishing up, she approached Jewel closer and whispered only so that she could hear. "Don't worry, you're still my beautiful Jewel."

It made her smile. "Thanks Blu."

"So Jewel, what did it feel like to be inside a running engine?" Nico asked.

"Yeah Jewel, was it hot?" Pedro asked.

"Guys, cut it out. Jewel needs to rest."

"Actually, I don't know. I don't remember much."

"What do you remember?" Nico added.

"I was flying with… oh my… where's Rafael?"

Pedro and Nico looked at each other. Blu looked down. "He's feeling troubled. He thinks this is his fault and…"

"… he just thought to drop by anyway."

They all look to the window. It was Rafael. "Hey Jewel. I'm glad you're okay."

"I guess I'm gonna be alright, as soon as I get out of these bandages."

Rafael was reluctant, but he slowly approached Blu. "Blu, I'm so sorry about what happened back there. If only I…"

"It's okay, Rafael. Jewel's alive. No harm done." Blu replied.

"So we're cool?" Rafael asked. Just to be sure.

"Yeah, we're cool."

"That's my boy." Rafael said knocking Blu's shoulder with his wing.

"Great." Nico said. "So we can all have a good laugh at that. But I have to ask, what were you two doing out there anyway?"

"We were playing rockball." Rafael replied.

"Yep, but Blue didn't join though because he thought it was dangerous." Jewel added.

"And I was right!" Blu replied.

"Blu, rockball is a sport that's been going on for birds for as long as I can remember." Jewel replied.

"Yeah, there's even a rockball federation league." Rafael added.

"Jewel, just promise me not to play rock ball ever again. I don't want to lose you." Blu asked.

Jewel looked to his eyes and he could see the fear and worry in them. She felt a bit of guilt for the worry she put on her partner. "Alright. I'll do it for you, Blu. And I'm sorry."

"Woah Woah Woah! Hold up." Pedro thought. "That plane has two engines, right? And both of them failed at the same time, right? But if Jewel was on the left engine, who or what on earth was on the other engine?"

* * *

><p>On the airfield, a few government investigators, as well as National Transportation Safety Board officials from the United States and Accident Investigation Branch officials from Great Britain, came to inspect the fallen aircraft. They check the right engine and soon uncover something so out of place, it was just mind-bogglingly hard to believe. "Why is there a rock in here?" One of the investigators asked as he pulled it out and showed it to the other investigators.<p>

* * *

><p>Blu and everyone else looked at Rafael. "Last time I'll play rockball." He made a nervous smile, but at least the guilt was gone.<p>

* * *

><p>Fifteen days later…<p>

_She packed my bags last night pre-flight_

The sun is slowly rising on the east on the second busiest airport in the country in terms of international traffic. Flight 275 was getting ready for taxi.

_Zero hour… nine a.m._

"Lovely day for a fly, eh?" Captain Moody asked.

"I couldn't ask for anything more." First Officer Harding replied.

"Alright. Start-up checklist procedures."

_And I'm gonna be high… as a kite by then_

Flight 275 has daily flights from Heathrow in London to Antonio Carlos International Airport in Rio. The routine 8-hour flight to London usually occurs in the morning. The flight will be handled by Captain Moody and First Officer Harding.

"Checklist complete."

"Rio Tower, Big Charlie 275, ready for taxi."

"Big Charlie 275. Roger. Taxi to runway 10."

"Runway 10, acknowledge. Big Charlie 275."

_I miss the earth so much, I miss my wife_

"No delays. No worries." Harding said.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I can't wait to get out of Rio." Moody replied.

"I know."

_It's lonely out in space_

A few moments later, they have lined up at the edge of the runway.

"Tower, this is Big Charlie275. Request ATC Clearance for take-off runway 10."

"Copy that Big Charlie 275. You have the runway."

_On such a timeless flight_

Moody and Harding reach for the thrust levers. Together, they throttle up the plane, accelerating from 0 to 80 in a few seconds.

_And I think it's gonna be a long long time_

'_Til touch down brings me round again to find_

_I'm not the man they think I am at home_

_Oh no no no I'm a rocket man_

"Vee one."

"Rotate."

Finally, at around 8:30 a.m., the plane was now in sustained flight.

"Vee two."

"Positive rate. Gear up."

At 1500 ft., they traversed about 20 km. Harding activates the autothrottle and sets the NAV switch to GPS. This switch allows the plane to follow a predetermined flight path by following waypoints on the GPS.

"And that's that."

BANG! BANG!

All of a sudden, both engines surging turbulently.

"Captain, surge. Engine 1 and 2."

Facepalm. "Not again."

Inside one of the engines, a white cockatoo was stuck in one of the engines. It was Nigel. "Last time I'll play rockball."

THE END.

_Rocket man… burning out his fuse out there alone. And I think it's gonna be a long long time…_

Epilogue

After the second birdstrike, Captain Moody and First Officer Harding landed the plane safely once more, oddly, in the same air strip. Due to their courage and diligence, they were awarded with several aviation merits for the airmanship they displayed. First Officer Harding was immediately promoted to Captain by British Cargo. Both pilots still fly together on some routes occasionally.

The Boeing 757 was eventually written off due to the double cost it took to replace the two engines, but the real reason was cited to be that the aircraft was possessed and was just pure bad luck.

Due to the cost of servicing the route, British Cargo suspended all flights to and from Rio de Janeiro indefinitely, which leads the airport with 28 passenger airlines and 5 cargo airlines as stated by Wikipedia.

The Brazilian government decided to concretize the airstrip and include it in its database, as well as all other private-owned airfields. A VOR-DME (VHF Omni-directional Range – Distance Measuring Equipment) was constructed at the foot of this particular runway.

Jewel eventually recovered from her injuries. Tulio put an ointment on her forehead that would make sure that the scar on her forehead would disappear and restore her to her former beauty. After the accident, Blu cherished his partner even more, spending a lot more time with her. Blu and Jewel live a happy and content life with their chicks. Rafael was more careful at first, still a bit shaken by the incident, but after a while, he returned to his fun loving self. Though, rockball was never played in the reserve again.

No birds were harmed in the making of this fic… okay maybe they got hurt but they all recovered from their injuries in the end, right? Nigel is evil anyway, so he doesn't count. It's a happy ending.

Songs used:

Elton John – Rocket man


End file.
